RALEIGH, N.C. – The North Carolina Department of Administration has petitioned the state’s Historical Commission to removed three Confederate monuments from the state capitol grounds, CBS North Carolina confirmed.
The petition asks the monuments be moved to the Bentonville Battlefield site in Johnston County.
The Department of Administration’s request was made to “ensure the Monuments’ preservation.”
In order for the monuments to be moved, a letter to the State Historic Preservation Officer is required as well as an application to the Raleigh Historic Development Commission.
The monuments are on a Raleigh-designated historic area.
The letter to the Preservation Officer is needed to request a change to a National Register of Historic Places property.
“As the Governor has said, our Civil War history is important, but it belongs in textbooks and museums – not a place of allegiance on our Capitol grounds. Relocating these monuments to a historic Civil War site will help us preserve them and provide context for their history,” said Department of Administration Secretary Machelle Sanders.
Gov. Roy Cooper said all Confederate monuments should be removed from state property in the days following a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Historical Commission has a regularly scheduled meeting on September 22 where the petition will be discussed.
